Autographic attachment for cameras.



2. E. HOUSE.

v.5U`|`0GRAPHIC ATTACHMENT FOR CAMERAS.

APPLICA'I'ION FILED JAN. 25,1916.

Patented Aug. 28, 19H.

onu. jfsiysm 7TORNEYS UNITED -sTATEs PATENT OFFICE.

ZACHABIA E. HOUSE, 0F CASS LAKE, MINNESOTA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF '.llO mA C. CURTIS, 0F CASS LAKE, MINNESOTA. i

Uroamnrc ATTACHMENT roi:l cutanee. y

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known'that I, ZACHARIAH E. HOUSE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident ofCass Lake', in the county of Cass and State of Minnesota, have invented certain"A new and useful Improvementsy in Autlographic Attachments for Cameras, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement 1n autographic attachments for cameras, and the invention has for its object to provide an attachment of the character specied, for

i use in connection with cameras of any type,

wherein the camera is provided with a s lot or passage in one side wall, parallel with the plane of the film or plate when 1n position to be exposed, and between the film 1n such position and the lens, and whcreln a Aholder is provided having a sheet of transparent material adapted to receive written or printed data, the holder being adapted to engage within the slot or passage, and the sheet being adapted to extend through the slot or passa e in a position betweenone ysideedge of t e iilm and the lens, to cause the data to be impressed upon the lm when it is exposed, and wherein means 1s also provided in connection with the camera at the slot or passage for engaging the holder to prevent dislocation thereof during exposure, and wherein light excludmg means is provided at the slot or passage, normally operative to close the said slot or passage when the holder and the sheet are removed, and to exclude the light when the sheet and holder are in place.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a camera provided ,with the improved attachment;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section taken substantially on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrow adjacent to the line;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows adjacent to the line;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the means in connection with the camera for holding the attachment in place;

Fig. 5 is a perspective and sheet; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a part of view of the holder Bpeoication o1' Letters Patent.

Application led January 26, 1916. Ser1a1 No 74,314.

the inner casing of the camera showing the rrangement of slot or passage. The present embodiment of the invention 1s shown in connection with a camera consisting of a sectional outer casing, the said casing consisting of a body 1 and a cover or closure 2. The inner casing is connected with the cover or closure 2, in such manner that the said inner casing may be removed with the cover or closure, and the said inner casing is of usual construction, having the reels for supporting the lm, and consisting of side plates 3 ofl metal or the like, which are connected by transverse rods 4 at the rear of the said inner casing.

The plates 3 are braced and reinforced at the rods 4 by vertical posts 5, the said posts being arranged on the inner face of the rear.

end of each of the plates 3, and that portion 6 of the lm to be exposed, passes over the rods 4 from the uppermost rod to the lowermost rod, the side edges of the lm being supported by the bars 5, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

In one side wall, the body 1 of the outer casing is provided with a slot or passage 7 the said slot or passage being parallel with that portion of the lm 6 which is in position to be exposed, and between the said portion and the lens.

The adjacent plate 3 of the inner casing is provided with a similar slot or passage 8, which is adapted to register with the passage 7 when the inner casing is in place in the outer casing, and -as shown in Fig. 6, a bead 9 surrounds the slot or passage 8, the said bead being on the outer face of the plate 3, and extending entirely around the slot or passage in rectangular outline.

A strip 10 of felt or the like is arranged on the inner face of the side wall provided with the slot or passa e 7, at the said slot or passage, and the elt has an opening registering with the slots or passages 7 and 8. The bead 9 of the inner casing, when the said casing is in place in the outer casing, is pressed into the strip- 10, as shown in Fig. 2, thus making an effectual light tight seal at this point. p

A plate 11 is secured to the. outer face of the side wall of the camera at the slot or pas,- sage 7, the said plate having a longitudiof the bodyl nally extending slot 12 registerin with the slot or passage 7, and the said p ate 1s secured to the camera wall by means of. screws or the like which pass through openings 13 in the ends of the plate.

This plate is provided at each end w1th a resilient clip 14, in the form of a pair of cooperating spring tongues, for a purpose to be later described,` and the members of each pair are at opposite sides of the ad] acent openin 13.

A ho der is provided for holding the transparent sheet, the said holder consisting of a cylindrical handle portion 15 formed by bending a suitable piece of sheet metal in the form of a split cylinder, and at each side edge of the split the cylinder has a radial liange 16.

These flanges are of less length than the length of the cylinder,- and the ends of the flanges are spaced apart from the ends of ItheV cylinder as shown.

The sheet 17 of transparent material, which may be celluloid or like suitable material, has one side edge received between the flanges 16, and rivets 18 or the lilre are assed through registering openings 1n the anges and act to clamp\the anges together on the strip, and thus form a detachable connection permitting interchange of strips when desired.

The strip 17 is adapted to receive data which may be made thereon in ink or pencil, in regard to the pictures taken. For instance, the subject, place, and the date may be placed on the strip, as shown in Fig. 5, or the autograph of the operator, and it will be obvious that when this portion of the strip is inserted between the film and the lens and the film is exposed, the printed or written data on the strip will be impressed on the film or plate.

The strip is of a width such that the printed or written matter, which is near the side edge of the strip remote from the holder, will extend over that portion of the film in position to be exposed, and it will be obvious that when the said portion of the film is exposed, the opaque characters of the written or prmted matter on the strip will be impressed on the film or plate.

The portion 15 of the. holder is of such length that the extended ends thereof, that is, those portions beyond the ends of the anges 16, will slip in between the members of the pairs of clips, and the clips being resilient will lock the holder and the strip in place inthe slot or passage 7 and in the opening 8 of the inner caslng.

Means is also provided for excluding light when the holder and the strip are withdrawn, and for making a light tight seal when the holder and strip are 1n place. The slot or passage 7 and the slot or passage 8 are arranged at the inner face of the adjacent bar 5,v in such position that when the holder and the strip are inserted, that facey of the strip which is adjacent to the lm 6 will abut the inner face of the said bar.

A plate 19 is arranged at the opposite'side of the strip, for pressin the strip toward the bar 5, and sprlng mecanism is rovided on the opposite side of the plate rom the strip for pressing the plate toward the strip and toward the bar 5.

A bar 20 is secured to the inner face of the plate 3 provided with the slot or passa 8, on the opposite side of the. said passage om the bar 5, and the said bar is recessed as indicated at 21 on the face adjacent to the strip.

The plate 19, which is of felt or like soft material, and which is reinforced on the face remote from the strip with a strip or plate 22 of sheet material slightly stiffer than the felt, as for instance paper, is pressed toward the strip 17 by meansl of a series of coil springs 23, the said springs being arranged in the recess 21, one end of each spring engaging the strip or plate 22, and the other being seated in a recess 24 in the bottom of the rece 21.

y It will be noticed from an inspection of Fig. 3,that the ends of the plates 19 and 22 are held in notches or recesses at the ends of the recess 21, and that that side edge of the strip or plate 19 which is outward, is held in a similar recess and in an outwardly bent osition, so that entrance of the strip 17 w1 be facilitated.

While the attachment is shown in connection with a box camera, it is obvious that it might be used with equal facility in a. folding camera, and while it is shown in connection with films, it might be used with plates in the same manner.

In use, when the operator desires to make a record upon an exposure, he will writev such record on the strip 17, as indicatedin F' 5. When he is ready to expose the film or p ate, he will introduce this record into the camera in front of the lm or plate, by en aging the free edge of the strip 17 with the ot or passage 7. The holder is pushed directly in, and the spring clips 14 by their engagement with the extended ends of the body of the holder prevent displacement of the strip.

The plates 19 and 22 effectually exclude all light, whether the stri is in place or whether it is withdrawn. en the strip is in place, the plate 19 is pressed tightly against the same, pressing the strip between the said plate and the bar 5. When the strip is withdrawn, the plate is pressed tightly against the bar 5.

A strip of felt may be arranged on the inner face of the bar 5, if desired. It will be noticed that the normal operation of the camera is in no manner affected by thel attachment in question.

The cylindrical form of the handle portion 15 before described permits of its reception and support of a pencil or other implement 15, as seenin Figs. 1 and 5, it being observed that the transparent strip 17 may be provided with the desired data by the use of either ink, crayon, or glass marking pencil.

I claim:

The combination with a camera provided in one side wall with a slot or passage parallel with the plane of the film to be exposed and between the ilm and the lens, said camera having holding clips at the end of the slot, and a holder having radial flanges eX- tending longitudinally thereof intermediate its ends, the ends being adapted t0 engage the clips, a sheet of transparent material held between the flanges and adapted to enter the slot or passage, said camera having light excluding means for engaging the sheet when the holder is in place.

ZACHARIAH E. HOUSE.

Witnesses:

' AL J. HAU,

E. M. DUNPBY. 

